Overhead door holder



y 5, 1950 H. o. GEISLER Q 2,943,882

OVERHEAD DOOR HOLDER Filed Dec. 31, 1957 f I I /F-/6 26 Henry a. Gal's/er INVENTOR.

Fig 3 32 United States Patent OVERHEAD DOOR HOLDER Henry 0. Geisler, Portland, Oreg., assignor to G M Sheet Metal Works, Portland, reg., a partnership Filed Dec. 31, 19 57, Ser. No. 706,502

5 Claims. (Cl. 292-262 This invention relates in general .to new and useful improvements in door stops, and more specifically. to an improved door stop intendedprimarily for use in conjunction with overhead doors.

One of the major problems with overhead doors, that is doors whichswing upwardly from a vertical position to a generally horizontal position, is that a sufiicient support structure must be provided for maintaining the overhead door in its open horizontal position. The support structure raises both a question of expense. and the mounting thereof.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention toprovide an improved stop or support for a door of the overhead type, the door stop being of an extremely simple construction and requiring only a single simple attachment to the building of which the door is a part.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved stop or support for retaining overhead doors in an open generally horizontal position, the stop being of such a nature whereby it may be readily used in conjunction with all types of structures including those where no space is available for a support structure of the type generally used in conjunction with doors of this type.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stop or support for vertically swinging overhead doors, the stop being of an extremely simple construction and relying upon the over-center principle in conjunction with a flexible member for the purpose of selectively anchoring the flexible member against movement relative to the door.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved support or stop for a door of the overhead swinging type, the stop including a lever carried by a lower part of the door, a flexible member attached to the lever and extending through the door to a point above the hinge for the door, the lever being provided with a spring for urging it towards the bottom of the door and the flexible member being connected to the lever at a point remote from the pivot axis of the lever whereby as the door is elevated, the spring will urge the lever around to take up the slack of the flexible member and finally move the lever to a position whereby the flexible member passes on the opposite side of the pivot for the lever whereby tension on the flexible member results in the lever being urged against the door and thus anchoring the end of theflexible member to the door.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is an elevational view showing an overhead door of a building in an open horizontal position and retained in that position by the door stop which is the subject of this invention, the closed position of the door 2,943,882 Patented July 5, 1960 IQQ and the intermediate position of the door being shown by dotted lines; I

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view,

- that there is illustrated a structure 10 which is provided with a door 12 of the vertical swinging overhead type.

The door 12 is suitably mounted at'its upper'e'nd on an upper part of the structure 19 by means of a hinge as; sembly 14 which includes a hinge axis 16, the hinge axis 16 being horizontally disposed.- Secured to the lower' part of the door 12 and connected to an upper part ofv the structure 10 is a ,door stop which is the subject .of

this invention, the door stop being referred to in general by the reference numeral 18. The door stop 18 includes a lever 20 which is best illustrated in Figure 3. The lever 26 includes a pair of parallel legs 22 and 24 which are connected together by a bight portion 26. The leg 22 terminates in an elongated shaft portion 28 which is at right angles to the leg 22, whereas the leg 24 terminates in a shorter shaft portion 30 which is at right angles to the leg 24 and coaxial with the shaft portion 28.-

The door 12 is illustrated as including a stiffener rib 32. The door 12, however, may be of any construction with the main requirement that it include a suitable sup port for a U-shaped mounting bracket 34 having projecting cars 36 and 38 receiving and forming bearings forthe shafts 28 and 30, respectively. It is also required that the door 12 be provided with a lower part or flange, such as the lower part 40 illustrated in Figure2.

The legs 22 and 24 are interconnected adjacent the bight portion 26 by means of a cross bar 42. Secured to the cross bar 42 is one end of a flexible member 44 which may be in the form of a lightweight cable. The door 12 has formed in the body part thereof an opening 46 through which the flexible member 44 passes. The flexible member 44 has the other end thereof connected to the structure 10 by means of an eye bolt 48 or other similar anchor device.

As is best shown in Figure 2, when the door 12 is in an elevated position and the lever 20 is swung to a position whereby it engages the lower part 40 of the door 12, the flexible member 44 is disposed above the axis of the shafts 28 and 30 and thus in an over center position with respect to that axis. In this over center position, the flexible member 44 urges the lever 20 into engagement with the lower part 41 and thus effectively locks the lower end of the flexible member 44 with respect to the door 12 whereby the flexible member 44 forms a tension member supporting the door 12 in its open position.

In order that the lever 20 may automatically be moved to the position illustrated in Figure 2 at such time as the door 12 is swung from its vertical closed position to its open horizontal position, there is provided a spring 50 which is of the spiral type. The spring 50 has one end thereof anchored to the member 32 and the opposite end thereof anchored to the shaft 28. The spring 50 is pretensioned so that it urges the lever 20 to the position V terposition; .In

1 open position in Figure l.

tion by the flexible member 44.

time ah the door 12 reaches its open horizontal position of 'Figure 1' at which time the lever 20 has swung'to the position where the flexible member 44 is in an over cencomes anchored slack ifthedoor 12 is swung further'clockwise from its thus when the door 12 is released in its open-horizontal position," it will ,be automatically supported in that post- When it is desired to return jecting part of the, lever 20 so as toimove the flexible member 44 past its over center position at which time the flexible member l is no longer anchored with respect this position the flexible member 44 bc- 'th respect to both the support 'a'nd the door 12. 'Of course, the flexible member will become I Howeven'there, is noneedfor. moving the door'12to a further elevated position and- V the door 12 to its closed positiomit'is merely necessary to pull down on the pro doorand connecting the same to said support structure for swinging between a vertical closed position and a s'ubt'oathe door 12 and the door l'21may 'be swung downwardly. 1 I r 1 It is to be understood that the door 12 may be provided with suitable counterbalancing devices, .etc., whereby the 'lifting of the door 12 from its closed position to its open position may be relatively effortless. 1 illustrative only of the The foregoing is considered as, principles of' the invention; Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitabletmodifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimedasnew is as follows;

tance between its anchor point on said support structure and the pivot axis of said lever being such that saidele ment is taut when said lever is in its operative position in abutment with the door to hold the latter in its open. position but that said element is slackened upon swinging 'of the lever to its inactive position to permit closing of the door. Y Y

2. The .device' as defined in: iclaim l together with resilient means fiperatively connected to said-' lever to head door, a hinge provided on the upper edge of said stantiallythorizontalopen position, and-means respon- I the-door, and an elongated flexible element connectedjat l.' Thecombination of a support structure, an overhead door, a hinge connecting saidrdoor to saidsupport structure for swinging between a vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal open position, and means responsive to swinging of the door frorn'its closed to its open position for holding the door open, said means comprising a lever pivoted atone end thereof to said door at a point remote from said hinge for swinging movement about a pivot axis parallel to the hinge between an inactive position wherein the lever extends from its pivot axis toward the hinge and an operative position wherein it extends away from the hinge and supportably. abuts thedoor, and an elongated flexible element connected at one end thereof to said lever at a point remote from the pivot axis of the latter and anchored at its other end to said support structure at a point spaced above said hinge, the length of said flexible element in relation to the disone end thereof to the free end portion of said lever and; anchored at its other end to said support structureat a point spaced above said hinge, the length of said flexible element in relation to the distance between" itsranchor 1 point on said support structure and'the pivot axis of said lever in both therclosed and open positions of" the door I being such that said element is taut and disposed at one side of said pivot axis when said lever is in its operative position in abutment with the door to hold the latter open but that saidelement is'slackened and passed to the'relasilient means operatively connected to said lever forurg-1 tively opposite side of said pivot axis upon swinging of the lever to its inactive position to permit closing of the door. 7 e I V 4. The device as defined in claim 3 together with reing the same to its operative position. 7

5. The device as defined in claim 3 wherein said door is provided at a point between said hinge and said lever with an opening having said flexible element slidably extending therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,663,047 Grenzeback Dec. 22, 1953 urging the same to its operative position. '1' i 3. The, combination of arsupjport structug, an everu 

